‘Major fire’ damages Main Street building

by Hopkinton Independent | Sep 20, 2020 | News, Z-Lead Image Front Page

A three-alarm fire Sunday morning at 17 Main St. drew crews from multiple towns to the mixed-use building, which houses multiple businesses as well as at least one apartment on the upper floor. Main Street was closed in both directions while crews from Hopkinton, Framingham, Holliston, Upton, Northborough, Ashland, Westborough and Southborough contained the “major fire,” according to the town’s Twitter feed.

According to passersby, the fire was active shortly after 9 a.m. in the upper part of the building. Around 11:30 a.m. the Hopkinton Fire Department tweeted that the fire was “under control” and venting and overhaul work was being done. The HFD indicated that there were no injuries, but two adults were displaced from their home. Main Street was reopened around 2 p.m.

C.J. Dunne, who owns Bittersweet Co., a cafe located on the opposite side of Main Street, apparently was one of the individuals who lived in the building. He posted on Bittersweet’s Facebook page that he was safe and not in the building when the fire started. “Shaken but not hurt,” he wrote. “Can’t believe I’m homeless.”

According to the signs in front of 17 Main St., businesses in the building include Hopkinton Chiropractic, Uptown Salon, Body Restoration, Outside Interactive and Hopkinton Skin Care.

Christine Laughran, who has owned Body Restoration since 2003, said she was told the building likely would be “a total loss.”

“We just started to open up very carefully from the COVID, being shut down for so long with no income,” she told Boston television station WBTS NBC-10. “And now this. It’s devastating.”

Initial reports indicated the cause of the fire was not suspicious. But that was of little solace to those who were displaced.

“This is tough, especially in the current times that we’re in with the pandemic and everything that’s going on,” Deputy Fire Chief Bill Miller told the media on the scene. “This is some really tough times right now.”